There are many tips on how to sleep better, from putting the phone away to cutting down on caffeine. But if you've tried all of this and still can't sleep well, there is another non-obvious solution!
It's a decision to write to-do lists for tomorrow. Recent neuroscience research has shown that writing down 10 things to do in the coming days can help you fall asleep 15 minutes faster. The reason is simple: making a to-do list reduces stress and fear of the future, and helps reduce the unpleasant feeling of undone work (after all, it will get done, once it is planned!). Without such a list, the brain will constantly turn on to think it over - and it will be more difficult to fall asleep.
During the experiment, published in the American Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57 people had to create a list of what they have already done, or what needs to be remembered in the coming days. An important condition is right before bedtime. Both groups stayed in the laboratory for 4 consecutive nights, and their sleep was recorded and special devices were evaluated: electrodes attached to the subjects' heads recorded the activity of the brain.
The group that wrote cases for the future fell asleep on average 9 minutes earlier than those who wrote about completed cases. And those who wrote in great detail fell asleep as much as 15 minutes earlier! Consequently, keeping track of things to do in the coming days can help calm your brain faster and reduce stress.
“We live in a 24/7 culture where to-do lists grow and make us anxious about unfulfilled tasks right before bed,” said study leader Dr. Michael Scullin of Baylor University in Texas. “A lot of people loop through these lists in their heads, so we wanted to find out if the act of writing down helps reduce problems with falling asleep. It turned out to help."
According to a British survey, 54% of women and 40% of men have difficulty falling asleep due to stress or fear. Therefore, the recording of the fact that you need to call the auto repair shop, buy bread on the way home and send a report on work can really take all these things out of your head and let your body go to sleep!
